Sharjah Off The Beaten Path

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Al Khan is an area around the Grand Hotel of Sharjah. I could walk around it and find an old suburb which was almost a town in the beginning of the 20th century. Its residents were mainly members of the Al swdan and Al abu muhair tribes, who form part of the Bany yas tribe. The town was known as a commercial hub for bedouin goods trading and as a summer destination for Dubai residents. Currently, the suburb has been converted into a part of the city and has a lot of commercial and residential waterfront developments.

You can watch my 3 min 46 sec HD Video Sharjah daytime walk part 1 out of my Youtube channel with Andi Susi.

You may watch my high resolution photo of Sharjah on the Google Earth according to the following coordinates 25° 20' 8.06" N 55° 21' 33.38" E or on my Google Earth Panoramio Al Khan Watchtowers .

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Coming back home I found out that when I visit the Church area in Sharjah I could see a lot of non Muslim Churches. Among them:
Sharjah Marthoma Church,
Sharjah Armenian Church,
St. Martin’s Anglican Church,
St Marys Jacobite Soonoro Church,
SIAG Sharjah Union Church,
St Michael Catholic Church.

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I was very curious to see an Orthodox Church in Sharjah. I went to the Church Area of Sharjah and find it among numerous non Muslim churches located there. When I came back home I investigated what kind of church is it. And I found out many interesting things:
“The advent of Orthodox Christians from Malankara (Kerala) to the Gulf began with the development of the Gulf countries.
With the finding of oil in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, people from many countries of the sub-continent started coming to these places in search of job opportunities. Among them were many Orthodox Christians from Kerala, who were employed in Government and Private organizations. They formed prayer groups for their spiritual needs and were frequently visited by the Vicars from St.Mary’s Orthodox Church, Bahrain. St. George Orthodox Church, Abu Dhabi and St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Dubai, were the early congregations to be established in the UAE under the patronage of St.Mary’s Orthodox Church, Bahrain.
In 1970, at the time of elevation of St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Dubai as a Parish, a large number of its members lived in Sharjah. Their travel to Dubai for attending the Holy Mass at Women’s Society Hall in Dubai was a great ordeal. So, in the year 1973, a group of the Orthodox Church members from Sharjah formed a Prayer Group, under the patronage of St.Thomas Orthodox Church, Dubai. Prayer meetings were held once in a month, at the residence of those members, under the leadership of the Vicar from Dubai Church. This prayer group was the forerunner for the formation of the present St. Gregorios Orthodox Church in Sharjah”.

You can watch my 4 min 40 sec HD Video Sharjah daytime walk part 6 out of my Youtube channel with Mustafa Sandal - Arabia.

You may watch my high resolution photo of Sharjah on the Google Earth according to the following coordinates 25°21'18.01"N 55°23'38.36"E or on my Google Earth Panoramio St Gregorios Orthodox Church.

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The first thing I noticed abt the market is the freshness of the produce.Its close to the sea and as you watch fishing boats come in with fresh fish live from the ocean.I went on a Friday and the place was packed.There are lots of people who make this a weekly family-thing to do.The market was buzzing with people and had an incredible energy.Its a great place for people watching.The market open only upto 11 AM on fridays.

This place is not for the faint hearted - you can see fish being gutted and chopped up and bloodied gloves.

One of the most pleasant ways of whiling away the hours in Sharjah centre is to take a stroll along the promenade known as Buhairah Corniche. This waterside stretch of Sharjah is inviting due to its central location and its grassy areas shaded by date palms.

Locals come to hang out and chat and watch the dhows crossing Khaled lagoon. The fountain in the lagoon is the world’s third highest and is spectacularly floodlit at night.

Very close to Sharjah is Ajman (the smallest emirate) and Umm Al Qaiwain. Ajman is much like Dubai in the 1970s. And Umm Al Qaiwain with the old fortress is a very nice small village. And NO TOURISTS.

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Khor fakkan is a lovely little town that attracts tourists from Abu Dhabi and Dubai especially for weekends because there are opportunities for indulging in water sports. The best place to stay is probably the Oceanic Hotel which offers many water based activities.
There are a number of sandy beaches in coves around the coast that are only reached by access from the sea.
The town itself is not very large but the port is quite busy as gabbro is mined for export to other Gulf countries and beyond for road building.

Sharjah is the poor relation to Dubai. Although the streets are wide, the scenery at the roadside is desert scrub. This is gradually being replaced by development in the form of high rise office blocks . Old style houses are gradually being demolished to make way for modern villas, so if you want to see what the Gulf was like when it first began to develop, visit Sharjah, Ajman, Fujeira or the smaller Emirates before they too become all glass and concrete.